Applying Truck Bed Coating to lower doors and van body

[winmag4582001]

https://www.lowes.com/pd/HERCULINER-...iABEgK3SvD_BwE

I did the lower 8" of my van with this stuff. It's a mother f'er to work with. Prepping the surface is 99%. Cost was about $70, 2 quarts + 2 chem resistant rollers.
Overall I'd give it 9/10 for durability and looks. I wouldn't do it again because of how horrible the stuff was to work with. Next to impossible to mix.

[YoTerryh]

I've been perusing the various threads mentioning spraying the rocker panels with bed liner. I'm trying to decide what I want to do. I started with needing new tires, then thought I'd add new wheels, then began considering the idea of a face lift for my van. Now thinking about bed-liner sprayed on existing running boards, rocker panels, grill and bumpers and adding new tires and wheels, plus removing old GTRV decals/striping.

I included ta current picture plus a (poorly)photo-shopped phot to get an idea of the appearance. Thoughts?

[Grampswrx]

You should definitely do that. I had a similar van and the results were amazing. I used monstaliner. I masked everything, then used acetone to clean everything. Then I rolled it on using the rollers included in the kit. It was super easy and came out great. I did the bumpers and the tire carrier and ladder and it came out great. 8 months in and its still in perfect shape. I removed the running board prior to doing it and would do it again in a heartbeat.

Also, I used the 3m pinstripe eraser on the stripes on the side. It took forever, but looks great now.

Before and after photos.

[YoTerryh]

Thanks for posting, Grampswrx. I saw other photos of your van and grabbed one earlier for inspiration! I'm now thinking I will remove the running boards and add some hoop steps for accessibility, the proceed with adding the bed liner. Your van looks great! Did you have your van lifted as well?

[Grampswrx]

Yeah, I went with the weldtec 4" kit for a lift. Makes a huge difference both in ride quality and looks.

[beaker]

If you are dealing with protection of the outside of your rocker panels, I'd suggest also taking a look at the inside of your rocker panels as well. I noticed three spots which were small bubbles (1 cm diameter) on my rocker panels; no paint was broken, but I knew these did not come from the factory this way.. On each one, I ended up welding in patches the size of quarters. From the inside of the rocker panels, there are rubber plugs. When I pulled mine, I found many of the rockers packed with silt. I blew each one out with compressed air and then sprayed Fluid Film in each hole. Overall, I am not terribly impressed with the design, as there are square holes punched on the inside of the rockers for attachments like running boards. These holes are not sealed.

I wish I had done this inspection earlier. I hope that I've arrested corrosion, but I've been eyeing flood vans from the south as potential donor bodies just in case.

[RebelRX8]

How about trying a good thick layering of Plasidip, the Camo colours look good and it’s quite hard wearing and never permanent.

[JWA]

3M makes paint protection film in various thicknesses that would work perfectly for minimizing or eliminating road debris dents, chips and such to these lower areas of our vans. Were I adding this material I'd wrap the entire rocker panels beginning a few inches up on the doors and continuing down the body and underneath towards the floor no less than 8-10".

I'd wrap the fenders from the rear (nearest the door) to the front (near the bumper) up a few inches continuing into the inside of the wheel opening cutting and trimming so the material wraps around the fender and folds over the formed horizontal edge, pressed into place so the fender becomes almost encapsulated.

Quarter panels would receive the same treatment but I might consider a thin piece of Lexan etc cut to fit inside the wheel well as a sort of a liner, preventing cast off debris from striking the metal surfaces. Then again something like MonstaLiner et al would work perfectly for this too.

Just ideas from a former body shop owner and current van owner.

[YoTerryh]

It begins. The running boards came off.

[YoTerryh]

Slowly continue to work on changes to my van. Here's some recent progress.

1. Decals removed.
2. Yakima cargo box added.
3. New tires and wheels mounted.